Change
by Calleo
Summary: Not all changes are necessarily bad.


(( Fun disclaimers:

- Aglac was consulted about the end bit, and signed off on it being okay to use (i.e. no godmoding took place. ;) )

- Aglac is an Orc warlock on Moon Guard. ))

This was a nice change; a recent one, but nice nonetheless.

Calleo could not recall any time in the past eight months that he'd been anything less than a snappy, stressed, walking ball of annoyance both to himself and to everyone around him.

This was nice, this sitting quietly and not having one's mind going full throttle.

He hadn't realized it at the time, how much small amounts of stress-over-time could wreak so much havoc on someone's life in the overall sense.

Granted, he'd always been somewhat high strung, but it rarely translated into being outright vicious toward friends and family.

Of course, when friends and family were the cause, it certainly didn't help matters, but for someone who prided himself on self control, looking back on the past eight months was nothing short of embarrassing.

Ah, well, hindsight is always clear.

Calleo shook his head, readjusting the glasses that had slipped partway down his nose; Phuunom swiveled its tentacles toward the warlock in a questioning manner.

"That's the thing, isn't it, dog," the demon tilted its head, "that's what I forgot; I can't possibly hope to control everything around me, but I _can_ control how I react to it all."

A wry smile crossed the warlock's features, "And I haven't done that very well, have I?"

Phuunom laid its head down between its hooved paws and thumped its tail on the floor, still keeping its two large antennae focused in the warlock's direction.

Calleo's smile faded to more of a smirk as he continued talking to the demonic hound, "I could make excuses until I died of old age, I suppose; put into a position I never wanted, having to deal with people who occasionally act more like petulant children than adults, having to work a balancing act between not damaging friendships and still keeping some semblance of peace, but, really, it comes down to me losing control of my own life in a terribly misguided effort to be all things to everyone."

He looked down at Phuunom, not really expecting a response, "It's absurd, now that I look back on it. I can't tell if I've come out ahead or with nothing; now that I haven't got any superficial power, quite a few of my _friends_ have become significantly cooler in their actions toward me," the warlock paused to light a cigarette, "I'm finding that I now have more friends outside the Tribe than within it, though a couple of those are more business associates than friends."

The felhound curled its tentacles back a bit, moving away from the smoke, "In fact, most hardly bother with me anymore unless they want something or think I can hook them up, in a manner of speaking. I suppose I've done that to myself though, haven't I," he grinned down at Phuunom, "and they think I can't see through flimsy excuses, but I do hear about it; if I mention being treated a bit coldly to the few that seem to actually like me, they 'accidentally' let slip that those in question are perfectly friendly and warm when I'm not present."

Calleo smiled at the rising, curling smoke in front of him, "And, of course, when confronted, they assure me that nothing is wrong and it's 'bad timing' that they leave within five minutes of my arrival to most gatherings," he patted the couch, inviting the felhound up.

The demon happily obliged, staking out a spot on the opposite end to lie down and 'watch' his master.

Nudging Phuunom's nose with his foot, Calleo continued, "It's the damnedest thing though, it really doesn't bother me," the demon snapped at his foot, "I know it should, but it's difficult to be irritated with them when I know very well that it's my own fault," he nudged the felhound again, smiling, "but, I can control my reaction to it all; what any of them decide one way or another won't reduce me to a smoldering, half-cracked wreck either in public or in private."

Phuunom clamped its paws around Calleo's ankle, holding his foot still and capturing the shoed foot that had been bumping its nose. The smile on the warlock's face widened to a toothy grin, and he made a mock effort to pull his foot away, which only caused the demon to adjust itself a bit to keep a better grip.

"I'm certainly too old to go around chasing people who don't wish to be caught; and if I end up with nothing, as unlikely as that is? I'll rebuild again. That is, after all, one of the few strengths the Sin'dorei have to fall back on: We always rebuild and emerge stronger because of it. It's very tricky to keep us down, isn't it?" he shook his foot, bumping the felhound's jaw with it. Phuunom clamped down on Calleo's foot with just enough pressure to get a good grip, and shook its head, growling.

Calleo turned his attention back to the ledger, still absently nudging the felhound whenever the growling stopped, "Friendships come and go, and it's terribly unfitting of a Sin'dorei to chase the failing ones if the other side doesn't care either way; in the end, I'll always come out of it unscathed. I always d-"

A door slam snapped him out of the one sided conversation with Phuunom.

Calleo briefly glanced up from his ledger, "Evening, Ag."

"Oh...you're still awake! I..." the Orc looked between Calleo, the front door a few times before tossing a set of keys in a manner that seemed to be purposely aimed so that Calleo would not actually catch them, "How are you? Great! Wow is that the time it's late and I really should get some sleep it wasn't my fault see you in the morning bye!"

Calleo could have sworn he smelled burning oil and something suspiciously close to an electrical fire as Aglac walked past him.

Whatever changes had happened, good or otherwise, he could never really complain that his life was _boring_.


End file.
